Family Feud: Cassandra Thorne VS Gai Diyos
---- Having watched the others fight in the tournaments before his, Gai smiled as he was thrilled to have his turn, despite having tried to get out of it when he attended the planning for the tournament. Even though the Sibikos were a distant family only connected by the brother of his great grandfather, he still felt close to them as ever as the crowd from the outside began to yell ever so clearly. As he patinetly waited on the bench in the candlelit hallway, tapping his foot impatiently for the round to commence. A female staff member wearing black uniform, threaded with dark purple strands approached him. It was the first time that Gai was able to see who was organising this tournament on behalf of Desierto. The person's belt was neatly fitted to their waist as the silver rectangular buckle reflected the images of the candles it faced. What stood out clearly from the woman's outfit however, was the badge that she worn on the left side of her chest, bearing the insignia of the kingdom's symbol in bright yellow. She held a clipboard in one hand and a pen in the other, ticking the paper as soon as she saw Gai. "Hey Mr. Diyos, I'm one of the organisers of the event. I'm here to escort you to the entrance of the platforms where you'll be fighting Ms. Thorne." She greeted, bowing her head as she smiled. Gai nodded as the two began to make their way to the entrance, leading Gai to a large room filled with wooden crates labelled with Desierto's insignia. What caught his attention however was the massive gate that prevented him from entering the arena early, towering over him as the sounds of the crowd of the arena cheered. "Finally. Showtime." He smiled before the massive creaking of the gates flooded the room, the gate opening up to let in beams of light break into the dark room. As the light hit his face, Gai shielded his eyes before hearing what was meant to be the signal to fight, in the form of a roaring horn. The crowd become clearer as the gate opened wide and Gai was prompted to move forward and out into the arena. The sky that day was clear and bright, and the sun's gaze shone over the battlefield to where he was to fight the Atosaki member. Adrenaline rushed through his body as he studied the environment, it was something of perfection for him. 'Bodies' littered the ground as blood stained spears, shields and sword laid and stabbed the ground. Gai kneeled down to feel the green grass he stood on, noticing that it was real grass as he pulled it from the dirt. The grounds were desolate and it looked as though Gai was the only survivor the whole ordeal that had happened here, but as the gates on the other side of the area opened, he felt as though he was to be the only man standing in this field of the fallen. Cassandra walked out into the field amazed by the sheer hostility of the environment around her, certainly the blades and spears were something of over the top for her. Looking forward she saw Gai studying the area around him and using this chance to strike. Her gauntlets at the ready, Cassandra picked the closest sword to her and charged at her opponent, aiming the blade forward with the free hand open to cast her magic. If anything, combining both sides of her family of gauntlet and blade may prove useful against a man that her master Nero has spoken quite a bit about. For all she knows, her Crash magic will hopefully be enough to battle against the Slayer. Gai looked up and saw Cassandra charge towards him, unimpressed with how discreet mage was trying not to be before actually seeing what she was wearing. "What the fuck. Since when did they get a ma-" He exclaimed in surprise before his body flinched out of the way of Cassandra's blade and turning his back to her, moving in between Cassandra's sword and her gauntlet. befre the maid could react, Gai moved his arm over Cassandra's arm wielding the sword and gripped with the underside of his arm, whilst using his body to ram into her's as she quickly moved into him. Using his force would allow him to push her back as well as remain standing up to give him time to retreat and think of a plan. She was definitely not prepared for how fast her opponent was going to move, having noted Gai to be lazy and forceful by Nero in their conversations of his life outside the family. Cassandra braced for impact as Gai slammed himself into her whilst she was restricted by her arm being locked by Gai's. Falling backwards whilst Gai bounced off after his attack, Cassandra dropped into the dirt after being shocked by his reaction. It took her quite a bit of time to process what had just happened as everything just occured so quickly for the poor maid. Gai was nowhere to be seen as she looked up, as he had retreated before she could bring herself to fight again. "Fucking coward." She said irritated, looking around panicky, trying to find Gai amongst the battlefield. "Mind your language. Its very unlady like to talk in such vulgar language." A surprising voice scolded playfully behind her. Gai who had made his way to the back of Cassandra where she would not see him with the use of his shadows, proceeded to throw a punch towards the maid's back, aiming for somewhere near her spine as to stun her for a bit. Though it wasn't as powerful as he would usually send it, it could still pack quite the punch and force her to stumble forward. He kept the other hand prepared though resting on his side, using it as a readied shield but also a strike must the situation call for a second strike. Cassandra didn't notice Gai coming from behind her as he had delivered his attacks right after talking. Though she tried swinging around, Gai's fist landed right on her back, sending a surge of pain run through her body. She stumbled forward before using the readied gauntlet she had prepared with magic, swinging her hand palm open towards Gai without hesitation. Though there was the pain to deal with and complain about, she knew that it shouldn't interfere with the golden opportunity she had with her target right next to her. Gai was not ready however with what was coming his way, thought he though it was a normal attack of an open grip. Moving his hand towards to meet with Cassandra's only then did his expectations trick him, as he was launched to the otherside of the arena with great force. Since the Crash magic went into his arm, Gai didn't mind the broken pain as he rested for a bit in the hole he had made for himself in the wall upon impact. Taking the time to pull himself out with the non broken hand he had left. Even though his arm was disabled it didn't stop Gai from being determined to win the match. To him his arm was nothing more but an annoyance that can simply be ignored, but the audience it was a sign that he needed the hospital. Holding the thumbs up, the referees that stood by amazed at Cassandra's attack paused and let it go, allowing Gai to continue the fight. He kept it in his mind to ignore the pain as a black colour began tinting his body, becoming a black silhouette of his person. Clones began climbing out of Gai, one by one, until Gai had a personal army of eight clones ready for his commands. "On my command you shall attack on your own free will. Discuss it if you must." He ordered as the clones looked at eachother confused. Some of them shrugging whilst others shook their heads at eachother. Cassandra bowed to the crowd as she thought that she had won, no normal person would be able to take on a collision like that, and be insane enough to continue fighting. Unluckily for her, Gai wasn't a normal person, looking back to see her opponent summon multiple people from the darkness that had consumed his body. She shook her head in amazement, only to react by charging once again towards Gai and his clones while they were distracted. Both gauntlets were on for her Crash magic once again, and with the power of two sources, she was confident that she could take them all down at the same time. Gai who was still looked Cassandra's way noticed her approaching them and clicked his fingers and pointed at the incoming threat. Immediately two clones nodded and ran at Cassandra's gauntlet with haste, running right into the palms where her magic was set to release. The clones sacrificed themselves in order to eliminate her power, giving Gai and the others an open spot of opportunity to strike. "NOW!" He yelled out into the air as he let the clones charge at Cassandra, all having formed their arms into blades which would cut into the young maid's flesh with no problem. She seems to be forgetting that she was dealing with a Guild Master, and a guild master that was infamous for his destruction both intentional and unintentional. The clones all took different approaches to Cassandra, two having leapt forward whilst two came from the sides and behind, leaving two late comers to strike if she was able to take out the four clones that came in time. Gai looked at Cassandra's situation with a smile forming underneath his black form, only to then look at the broken arm he bared because of Cassandra. She was stunned by the surprise kamikaze manoeuvre by Gai's clones and didn't think of charging her Crash magic for her gauntlets in time for the second wave. Using her gauntlets as a shield she blocked her face and successfully blocked the attacks from the front. Although she didn't have any time to react to the attacks from the back, leaving her to get slashed by the clones' blades that had just acted more like a whip, leaving wounds on the back that began to bleed. Her back has been a continuous target in this whole fight with Gai, and felt that he was obviously more dangerous than she initially thought. Swinging her body to force the clones away from her, Cassandra decided to run away from the situation, giving time for her gauntlets to charge so that they may cast her magic again. But just like Gai, his clones were merciless hunters that wouldn't let Cassandra walk away so easily, with two chasing after the runner and the four remaining ones forming a firing line, there wasn't much escape that Cassandra do for the meantime. The two chasing Cassandra had their blade arms at the ready to bring her down, but the others had formed their hands into finger guns carefully aimed at the maid if they were to fail their mission. They were to fire several shots of Spirit Eater at the moment the two bladed clones were destroyed, a strike that would keep Cassandra held in place for as long as they need her. Cassandra saw the two clones coming here way and used the Crash power to destroy them, using Crash's power to affect other magics that may cause some irritation to her. Because these clones were made of magic, they didn't stand a chance against her power, that is for short range however. As soon as the two clones were immediately destroyed by her gauntlets, black bullets had come rushing in, surprising Cassandra. She didn't think much of them thinking that it was just another magical projectile, but was a magic projectile that would latch onto her and solidify. With her back overwhelmed with pain and now the black bullets quickly limiting her movement, having hit her arm as well as the palm of her gauntlet, she retreated further whilst more Spirit Eater bullets rained down on her. Gai having walked his way to the firing squad placed his hand on one of the clones to tell them to cease fire. The clones nodding immediately halted and disappeared into the air as they disintegrated into black particles. Gai's appearance began looking normal again with colour, instead of the black shadow he was. Chasing after Cassandra, Gai looked down at his arm and then to the figure before him, finding it strange that his arm wasn't hurting as much as he would have thought. His agility allowed him to catch to the Cassandra, with the help of the damage having been done to her back as well as the Spirit Eater shots that caught her. Placing his hand onto the ground, Gai released a shock of Manus that made it tremor underneath the both of them. Gai unprepared in the heat of the moment fell down into a sitting position, keeping his arm steady as to ease the pain. Cassandra herself stumbled down as well, although falling forward which didn't do her back any favours except not landing on them. Quickly driving herself to get back up, Cassandra pulled herself from the ground and to continue running. She wasn't planning to stop until she was a safe enough distance to make a proper plan instead of charging. Seeing how strong Gai was, was something that shook Cassandra, beginning to formulate the plan whilst she ran instead. Once again charging the magic in them, she was ready to break Gai's other arm if he wasn't too careful, or even break Gai's broken arm even more to the point where it can't even heal. Her loyalty to the Atosaki family was strong, strong enough to drift every so close to disqualification if it meant that it would at least be a win for the Atosaki members this day. All the other Atosaki members had done especially well before her, and to give them a win on the last day of the first round would definitely give them a good chance of winning the entire tournament. Getting back up himself, Gai continued to tail Cassandra in a game of cat and mouse, something that was entertaining to the crowd outside. With those who had supported the Atosakis cheering for Cassandra and even yelling at her to fight back, there was others who wanted to see the Sibikos win, supporting Gai's mercilessness as he chased the young maid. As of this moment he wasn't fighting Cassandra for the sake of the Sibikos, but he was fighting Cassandra for his own vendetta. He followed right behind Cassandra as she tried to escape but halted his movements as he planted himself into the ground. Forming a blazing black arrow of darkness in his good hand, Gai javelin threw the arrow directly at Cassandra without hesitation or a second thought. The arrow sped through the air and descended towards Cassandra, the power even feeling pressuring from where he was standing as the timing was nearly just right. In a desperate attempt to block the attack, Cassandra held one of her hands out and released the Crash magic charging in it. Destroying the spell, Cassandra could feel as though the gauntlet was ready to fall apart if it had came any closer. The gauntlets being a gift and a token of home, Cassandra felt severely threatened by Gai's attempt. Instead of running away, Cassandra proceeded back to Gai, charging at the Spirit Slayer with her powered hand reaching out and the other gauntlet protecting her face and upper body. The speed she came up was very quick despite how heavy the gauntlets looked to be. Calm and collected, Gai drew his damaged arm and opened his palm to face Cassandra, cocking back his undamaged one in order to throw a punch at her gauntlet. As the two fighters met, Cassandra's gauntlet came into contact with Gai's hand, who had striked into her palm and opened it up to interlock his fingers with hers. Much to the surprise of the maid, no Crash magic was emitted from her weapon, leaving Gai's undamaged arm the way it was. Smiling at her, Gai moved his hand upwards, bringing Cassandra's with him before throwing both down to the ground, slipping his fingers out of Cassandra's as it allowed him to make room and concentrate solely on the weapon. He pulled his damage arm closer back to him as he proceeded with his attack. Keen to take his aim and fire, Gai was sloppy but the distance between him and Cassandra was guaranteed some sort of hit as he moved his hand into a finger gun posture and fired a black shot at Cassandra's neck, hoping to take her by surprise. Even though her opponent only really had the one arm to work with, Cassandra was certainly surprised when he managed to deactivate her magic, rendering her attack useless and preventing her from breaking his other arm. Cassandra could only be surprised further when the black shot collided with her neck causing a solid feeling to melt over her skin and harden up in a matter of seconds. Gai's Spirit Eater certainly made it harder to move around in and with this going on now, her flexibility of her head had drastically been affected. Using the last few seconds of their confrontation, Cassandra threw a punch at Gai, producing no magic as there was no time to charge and attack for the moment. Gai stumbled back as the punch collided with him, giving a loud grunt before returning to Cassandra. On the way, he balled up a fist that began radiating black energy particles from it. In one swift movement similair to Cassandra, Gai threw the punch forward, this time to Cassandra's stomach in an upward motion. "Black Spirit Fist" He yelled as the fist flew towards its target. Cassandra could only react just like Gai as the Spirit Slayer's fist was struck into her stomach. Feeling the force lift her up a bit, Cassandra could feel her body being lifted up before descending back to the ground, only really having left dirt by a few centimetres. Being able to still stand on her two legs, Cassandra gave Gai a kittenish smile, before suddenly breaking out in a cough. Blood spluttered onto the ground in front of her, as the punch was much worse than it appeared to be. Feeling sick, Cassandra, held her stomach with one hand whilst the other hand was held pointing at Gai. Magic was building up in the piece of armour, and Cassandra was wishing to use it as fast as she can. Before being fully charged, Cassandra rushed to Gai's position with another attack of Crash magic. It was strange for Gai, for a maid she was strangely determined to take him down despite only meeting now. Maybe it was just loyalty or was a grudge that he had no idea about, Gai readied himself in a stance, with his damaged arm behind his back and his free hand out in the open. As Cassandra approached, Gai had cocked his arm back and shot it into the gauntlet's palm once again, releasing another shot of Dispel. Wrapping his fingers around Cassandra's, Gai pulled it away to give an open chance to swing his knee directly at Cassandra's stomach. With a weak point in place, there was nothing left but to abuse it, as there was no point damaging other parts. The knee pounded right into Cassandra's body, her eyes widened as she could feel more blood rush up to her head. Opening her mouth, blood spluttered once again with a shriek of surprise. As Gai's knee left her, Cassandra fell to the ground in pain, holding her stomach once again with pain. She knelt on the ground, almost sobbing, she didn't want to continue going at this rate. Any further combat and it would only be pointless, what chance did a maid have against a monster? Cassandra looked at Gai and smiled, before spitting at the Guild Master with an irritated look. "Finish it then." He looked directly at Cassandra and knew that he wasn't going to her let her go off easy for the damage she has done. Still holding onto her, it was evident that both mages were tired in a way, and pulled up Cassandra to him so that his mouth was near her ear. "You've really fucked up, doing that shit with a magic like that." He said as he let go of her hand and brought himself away a couple of feet away. His hand emitted black particles like before, except it wasn't the whole hand, but more coming from the palm region. "Lets see if the referees can catch you in time." He smiled before thrusting an open palm, using Black Spirit Charged Palm directly aiming for Cassandra's stomach, and finishing the match. Before Gai had any chance to land an attack on her, the referees immediately reacted and teleported her out of the arena, recognising that any further damage could be major. As Gai's palm swept through the space that Cassandra was last, the crowd cheered for the Sibiko's victory. Teleported to a safe room in the arena, Cassandra could feel guilt and shame wash over her very being, having failed the Atosakis again, even after the last victory was taken by a Sibiko. Bury her face into her hands, Cassandra pondered what might happen after the tournament finished. Gai on the other hand was fine with what happened, and trusted that the referees would teleport her out in time. Sighing with relief, Gai looked around at the crowd around him and smiled, only to catch the sudden creaking of a gate nearby. The event organiser was accompanied by both Phillip Sibiko and Anak Diyos, both holding a calm and collected look on their faces. "You're an idiot you know that? What happens if the referees were too late to get her out of there? That would've been another win for the Atosakis." Anak said, scolding his cousin for his reckless actions. Phillip didn't say anything and nodded to Anak's words. Gai shrugged forgetting about his arm and flinching, still holding a smile as to cover his damage. Anak turned his head to Phillip, nodding only after a few seconds as he returned his attention to Gai: "C'mon. Mr. Sibiko has already convinced the organisers about your arm there, they'll let you continue if you behave yourself."